Forced Hand
by Rinfanalltheway
Summary: Kyubi has no intention to remain a subservient leech in the stomach of that insufferable gaki he's forced to call a host only problem now is how to get out. Kyubi centric fic, no set pairings. Not the overly done Kyubi uberfies Naruro over night fic.


Merry X-Mas fiction-whores (which in my vocabulary is actually a compliment) after over a year of inactivity my sorry ass has finally managed to pump out another piece. So for all of you who read my previous piece and saw that I've updated (however that may be) this one is for you guys(and girls for that matter).

OK. Lets start this off with some important declarations, alright?

First off is the fact that this is not going to be similar to To Be Invisible, which for those who remember was a relationship oriented piece; no this story will be more aimed at Kyubi and his tampering in our beloved hero's fate. This said I do have two possible 'pairings' I might veer toward, but this does not mean that it will at any poin contain a label such as SasuHina, GaaLee, SasuNaru, ect. (Hint: None of those three pairings are a part of the two I mentioned and only one of them is one I'd ever even read let alone write; so cudos to those who can tell me which one I enjoy) The points of these two pairing possibilities will most likely take place because of the convinece or purpose it provides to Kyubi. So those of you wanting a romantic tale, I'm sorry but this isn't what you're hoping for.

Second deals with a minor problem I may or may not face in later chapters and that would be the maturity of the content. I might up this story to M if it becomes apparent that I'm crossing borders that younger views should not venture down but for the moment I trust the reader's descretion. In this chapter I have a (badly written) suicide like scene, if this for whatever reason is woefully painful for you to read I suggest switching to a milder story. I plan on walking the line of how this is going to go which may include but isn't limited to gore, rape (not actually focusing in on the sex or anypart of that, merely the violence and the act of forcing oneself onto another), and murder. I'm in no position to give any estimate on how in depth on any of these I'll actually get but the warning must stay. If I feel it is excessive in any way I will try to forewarn you in the opening notes.

Third, though I'd like to think I was rather quick in my previous piece, I can garenteed that this one will not see such speed. I'm on the cusp of a new stage in life and with the many ups and downs of teenage angst (not to mention ADD and many new video games that own my soul) I will be subjegated to irregular writting scheduals as well as irregular posting, so I apologize to start with for my short comings.

Fourth thing is I'd like to renew my offer for you readers to not simply post uniform 'Omgz i luv u!1!!' or flames, but to add in critiques and suggestions if you feel that they are in order. That's also not to say that I dislike the 'Luv!!!! Rite mOre NoW plz!' s that I get, quite the contrary, I just wish to improve my writting so that I would feel more deserving of the many loving comments you the readers leave.

And finally fifth, I promise to contain further A/Ns to the bare minimum so that you don't have to skip quite so much before getting to the actual story after this one.

**Chapter 1**

Every being in existence has one common element that connects them to the very core of their essence. This connection is the most powerful instinct in being; fear. The small fear that which is large, the weak fear those who are strong, the prey fears the hunter, and the hunter fears the pack. That is to say, all that is has fear. Though with all these creatures that share this unified quality, there are only two who push beyond the boundaries and limitations that nature shaped for them.

Man and kami.

Since the dawn of time, all manner of man and god waged war on that which engulfed them inside their own fear. Man harvested the eternal flame to push back the shadows of the night, he built mountains of stone and iron to seal his panic from a wandering foe, he forged an art of healing to fight the icy terror of death's solemn breath, and worst of all, he made kami to lay his final panic to rest with his dieing heart. Just as kami made man to prove their apprehension was ill placed. While the rest of the world acted on their fears, these two alone fought endlessly to prevent it.

One would think that a demon such as Kyubi wouldn't be so foolish to follow suit; for what could an immortal beast such as he ever fear? Surely the mighty Kyubi no kitsune was immune to the weakness of fear. Kyubi could fear nothing.

But that was exactly what the mighty nine-tailed bijuu feared; nothing. As a bound spirit that transcended its own death by forging a body of turmoil, the demon feared what would happen when this pandemonium ceased and death once more struck the remaining soul. For what happens to a soul once it has been slain? Nothingness. Because his existence was one of disarray; he lived and thrived off the chaos in the air. No addiction could hold a candle to this monstrous drive. It was the same as if man could become obsessed with the air he breathed.

In all the centuries he lived, the great nine-tails had only experienced this paralyzing fear twice. The first time was after a several decade long rest, when he heard the wind whisper of entire villages of human demons being formed. While 'ninja,' as these demons were called, had been around for at least a century or two and were of almost no threat to the Kyubi; the thought of them banding together shook him to the bone. When the only governing structure of shinobi was that of their own clans, they caused terror and chaos on a level equal to that of a bijuu, but when that wild element was tamed, it had the potential to all but cease the human's key part in any demon's survival. Imagine, an army hired by the drop of a bill; revolutions would be nigh impossible; corruption would grow until the world became nothing more than a reigning tyrant's board game. When that happened, order would finally take hold where the demons of the land once ruled without equal. Without that mayhem to feast from, the few remaining demons would become nothing more than night time stories to lecture the young.

With his first taste of fear in check; Kyubi knew what must be done, but the timing was not yet ready. He'd have to wait for these villages to develop more before his attack would shatter all hope for living together; at present it would merely spur on these meddlesome beings into uniting under one banner. Once they were ready Kyubi would merely decimate the most powerful one in one go, lighting the flames of despair throughout the continent. He planned so his fear would be the only dictator to ever rule this land.

The second time Kyubi's fright swept over him was thirty-six years later, eight years after his failed attack on Konohagakure. When he lost his body, he'd assumed that he had little else to fear; he was imprisoned in a child, severed from his body, without any way of escape, what else could go wrong? For Kami's sake, the kid was named after fishcakes!

It had been like any other day for the kitsune; the boy, Naruto, rose groggily from a sleep that rivaled the dead, breaking from the daze only long enough to prepare the mire that was part of his namesake. Kyubi did notice a pull in his gut, signifying that the blonde fool was hiding tears behind his mask of sunshine. He'd learned early on that the damned seal could convey the boy's emotions to him; probably some round-about way to try and 'convert' him to helping or submitting to the boy. He ignored it. What did he care if the gaki was having a bad hair day or something?

The blonde then dashed back into the room to dive into his bleed-your-eyes-out orange jumpsuit and make a blitz for school. Kyubi merely laid back and watched this happen with a scowl. He knew that one day this would most likely be the most loathsome quirk the boy could possibly have as well as one of the most fatal; that hue would hardly hide him from nothing short of a blind ninja, and those who rushed often overlooked small details that often meant all the difference. Though he could at least understand how part of this display of idiocy came about, even at this high speed Kyubi could pick out the numerous glares from all sides. '_**The more he rushes, the less he sees of the fodder**_' the dark demon thought to himself.

When he finally reached the petite hut that they called a school, Naruto filed right into place of his everyday routine without pause. It started off with a lecture on tardiness from the Umino teacher followed shortly by a desperate search for an open seat available for one such as he; ending up between Shikamaru and the isle. Then a review on the deeds the revered 'professor' and his students, the sannin, all of which the short blonde ignored in favor of writing a brief note to the only person Kyubi ever knew to have such a hideous color of pink for hair. When Sakura caught the note, she followed through with one deft motion and ripped it in half without a second thought.

But that was hardly the start of the things; the next few classes only grew worse as the geography and mathematics teachers took pointed attacks at Naruto any chance they got, as well as when the class was practicing jutsu, an unbalanced proportion caused the henge of the third to become distorted. At first it was funny, but when he made the same mistake a second time the jeers were directed at him instead of with. So when Mizuki took over for the final class, taijutsu practice, he was ready to vent some steam. The chosen vent? One Uchiha Sasuke.

The set up was rather simple; one-on-one in a chalk circle, first pinned or knocked out of the circle loses, and just as simple was Naruto's plan. When the class started pairing off, a extensive portion of the kunoichi were off fighting over who would be their precious 'Sasuke-kun's' partner; taking advantage of their distraction, Naruto strode right up to the Uchiha genius and let a sucker punch fly. It was one of the few times Kyubi ever felt a sense of respect for his host, though the resulting brawl quickly crushed this form of awe. Though both were young it was obvious that Sasuke's style and form were all but perfect while Naruto's was hardly there, if at all. And so once more, the class clown found himself center stage for another round of humiliation.

The mocking only ceased when the bell rang, releasing them to the families that had flocked to find their children; it was always one of the hardest times for the blonde orphan. So to push away the thoughts, he burst back into the school to find one of the few people that showed him kindness.

As always, Iruka was sitting behind his desk grading various papers from his history classes. When his unofficial favorite student rushed in, he was more than happy to give the boy his undivided attention. The two settled in for one of their many rituals in their unusual relationship; when Naruto's lack of family or love became too much he'd misbehave and seek out Iruka for that sense of belonging, and, in turn, when the feeling of solitude in Iruka's house grew too much for him to bare, he'd seek out his surrogate brother to remind himself what family is like. At the moment, the older found himself playing a role closer to a father, but what really caught his attention was throughout the entire lecture on studying and trying harder Naruto had yet to fight back. In these little rituals they had, there were certain consistencies, Iruka always tried to spur Naruto into putting his best effort into school while the boy would dig his heels in and fight him tooth and nail, but, this time, the young demon-container merely nodded and ducked his head. The scarred chunin smirked to himself, seeing the streak of shame as a sign of maturing. He gave the boy a wave before heading on to other duties that were required of him, leaving Naruto to his own devices.

Again Kyubi noted the feeling of sadness tugging at him, as if twin hands were entwined with his intestines. A spark of chakra numbed the sensation for the time being, replacing it with torrents of flame running throughout his form as the seal reacted. Pain, he could deal with; it was easy to by now after nearly a decade of escape attempts and violent counter attacks from a painted tat. For each ounce of pain though, Kyubi learned. For example, there was a small threshold he was allowed before the seal actively struck, allowing the kitsune some leeway to mold what chakra he could into existence without it being turned into an attack against him. On top of that, he could affect the gaki's jutsu with sparks of demonic chakra if he wasn't careful. And best of all, the little bastard could access his chakra supply when he pushed himself hard enough! Without his body to harness the energy, even Kyubi had difficulty molding his chakra, but Naruto found it as simple as if it was his own. Whatever kami chose this fate for this odd interdependence had a sick sense of humor.

Naruto sat in the solitude of the class room for a few minutes, allowing the darkness of the room to hide the darkness that spread across his face. When he found it in himself to banish the sullen image with a cloak of delight, he wandered off into the sun.

After his aimless wandering brought him around to a very familiar district, the young ball of energy redirected his route for a quick bowl of his beloved ramen. Old man Ichiraku's was one of the few havens that Naruto had the luxury of having. The demon container plopped down in his unofficial seat and ordered a modest meal; though with his level of restraint quickly proved to be on par with a deranged woodpecker in a lumber yard as his stack of bowls grew ever higher.

While this was going on, Kyubi took a moment to appreciate the sheer genius these two workers exhibited in dealing with the gaki. In two separate incidents, men who obviously had malice against the 'damned demon brat' were promptly thrown out, and both times Naruto pulled out another stack of yen to make up for the profits lost to those customers. At this rate, Ichiraku would receive ample business from the boy to make up for more than one and a half the amount the expelled customers would have spent. By showing their loyalty to Kyubi's container, they guaranteed a profit, all because the gaki felt guilty for the lost business. The nine-tails laughed despite the seal's empathy effect on him. '_**And they call me evil**_!_** HA!**_'

All the way home Kyubi was on cloud nine and no seal could change that. In all truthfulness, Kyubi derived a sick masochistic joy from the seals attempts to influence him. It let him know that despite his position as little more than a parasite, he was still 'above' the ever gracious host; the worse Naruto felt, the wider Kyubi's grin grew. In one swift moment, that sadistic/masochistic pleasure was torn into a thousand pieces and scattered to the winds.

While Kyubi had been distracted by his victory over his imprisonment, Naruto had managed to trudge home in a slump of self-loathing. When he entered what felt like the final cell in the penitentiary he'd been unfairly sentenced to, he broke down. The mask he wore crumbled into a stream of tears, and his body collapsed in a fit of tremors. Throughout the day he'd managed to guard his heart behind a wall of steel, but now, in this empty home, the pain sunk in. The villagers hated him, his class wanted nothing more than to watch him writhe, and for those like the old man and Ayame, he only brought suffering to them for their kindness; so why bother? His hand gripped tightly to a fork that had fallen to the floor unnoticed and his mind wandered to the day Iruka had brought him a set of the odd silverware. He'd told Naruto that he might need a more convenient eating utensil if guests came over. '_Like that'd ever happen_,' the blonde thought to himself as he traced the blue veins along his forearm. Before the nerve left him, he closed his eyes and rammed the silver instrument as far as he could into the soft flesh of his wrist. Needles of pain leaped down his arm as the shock set in, but he couldn't stop there. The silver instrument dug deeper into the flesh of his own hand and he brought as much strength as he could muster into pulling the four pronged weapon as far along his arm as he could.

Only when the metal became too entangled in kami only knows what did Naruto pause to think. He could see his bone clearly amongst the flow of blood and ruptured pulp protruding from the open wound; terror leaked into his voice as he tried to scream, but only managed a pitiful yelp. Fear, pain, and sadness wrapped around him like a thick blanket until he lay still and let unconsciousness claim him.

Deep inside the seal, Kyubi let loose a thunderous roar. '**How dare you gaki!**' Tentacles of chakra flew from the spiritual form of the Nine-tails and latched onto various pipes and, for lack of a better word, _pulled_. With a click each one released their repressed vault of chakra and let it loose into the boy's intricate coils. The effects were immediate: flesh and vein reformed as if nothing had happened, the seal snapped down on the escaped chakra like a snake hungry for a meal and added it to the boy's already immense reserves, and the Kyubi was thrown against the wall when the seal struck at him for his meddling actions.

Through vacant eyes of blue, Kyubi watched the wound stabilize and seal itself up thanks to his chakra. But he could feel the remnants of his explosive release still flowing throughout the boy. Not all of his chakra had settled in for the simple act of saving the gaki's life. Most of the chakra was quickly hunted down by reacting functions of the seal to convert it into human chakra, but one particularly large portion eluded the grasping fingers of the seal by digging deep into the brain and leaving its residual effect imprinted into the wrinkles of the mind. Kyubi hissed at the result; more pipes to his vast chakra grew and took up residence inside his depressing cell. He'd given the boy an ability just short of a kekkei genkai; his chakra was now linked directly to the cerebellum, which he assumed would use his chakra as a sort of fixer-upper whenever it was needed.

Along with that, his chakra had a second residual effect. When a portion of that chakra had run along the spinal cord to escape, a portion of _that_ was separated and drifted toward the face. The first stop led it through the optic nerves and along the eyes, and left a slight trail that, for all Kyubi knew, did nothing. When it exited through nearby coils, the chakra found itself pumped through various thin capillaries that couldn't hold such a strain. The resulting rupture of these delicate coils left three dark scars along each cheek.

In proportion to previous spasms of pain, this one yielded the greatest bounty of information. The first epiphany was simply put, his chakra was held at bay not to keep Kyubi imprisoned, but to protect the boy from the dark chakra's influence. The second was more discrete in appearance. While his chakra had been 'stolen' and 'harnessed,' it was also being actively used; as long as he could form a solid connection, such as the link to the boy's mind, his chakra could roam freely throughout the gaki unfiltered by the seal. The final revolution struck deep in the fiendish nightmares of Kyubi in that this boy was unstable and would only prove to further risk both his and his tenant's life if given the chance.

For the second time in his life Kyubi felt fear and for the second time in his life he knew he must guide his actions through the dark in order to preserve what life he still had. But unlike the first time one of these situations had happened, he would not rush himself. He would plan and wait because, though the boy was a danger, he would be a far greater danger if Kyubi jumped the gun again. If he was suicidal by merely being hated, what would happen if he knew of the damned spirit that lay within his gullet and that it was the reason for his pain?

Yes, Kyubi would have to very careful when it came to this one.

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the horrid nature of this prologue/opening chapter. If you have any trouple understanding any part of this chapter please let me know so that I may either revise the article in question or explain it to those who do not understand.

Signed, _Rin_


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